Barry Tuck: An Interview with an Interesting Tweep

Today’s post in the Interesting Tweople section features Barry Tuck (who goes by @BarryTuck on Twitter). Over the past decade he has developed a reputation as one of the most respected and accomplished action sports photographers in the world.

Barry Tuck’s images have been featured in over 100 publications in 27 countries. He is also the photographer of choice for several of the world’s leading brands. Barry Tuck is internationally renowned for his creativity and ground-breaking ideas.

Barry Tuck has won several major awards during his career (including the Vodacom 4U Performance Award for Artistic Contribution to SA Youth Culture, the Ill Academy Award for Photography, Photographer of the Year at the 2008 SA Surfing Awards and the 2008 SANSSA Photographer of the Year).

He has also worked as the editor for Zigzag and Blunt magazines. Barry Tuck is also a talented and widely published writer. He’s opened a Durban-based advertising agency called Gorilla Creative Media (whose clients include Axe, Wonderbra, Lee Jeans, DC Shoes & others).

Barry Tuck lives in Durban North and is an avid surfer, snowboarder, wakeboarder and flowboarder. He is currently going out with FHM model @KirstyBisset and can usually be found making a scene on some club dancefloor on a Friday night. Contrary to popular belief he doesn’t have a criminal record and seldom goes to work naked.

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Barry Tuck recently, this is what he had to say:

You have been featured in Cosmopolitan magazine as one of the “Twitter Kings”. Do you think that Twitter is one of the easiest ways to achieve fame or stardom?

Yeah, the Cosmo thing was quite a surprise to me, but when they contacted me I figured why not? I’m easy like that. Most of the other guys featured were celebrities like @GarethCliff, @KevinMcCallum, @trevorgumbi and @RubyGold, so I guess that the inclusion of an average Joe like me bares testimony to Twitter’s ability to achieve a degree of fame.

If a person uses Twitter correctly it’s amazing how quickly you can become known. My goal with Twitter was merely to tweet the things I’d never be able to say in person. Things like: “All these responsible drinking ads during the cricket are in such bad taste when I’m trying to get shit-faced” or “I know a cucumber farmer who has a problem with female squatters” or “I’m feeling very negative today.

I think a creme brulee fight with some bikini models might help” or “Whenever I got in trouble as a kid, I’d always point out that it was actually my dad’s fault for not wearing a condom.” My philosophy was that if I grow a following cool, if not, well hey I’m still having fun. It seems the voice of @BarryTuck entertains people, and I’ve developed a bit of notoriety (rather than fame!) in the SA Twitter world.

So I’d say yes… If your tweets are funny and/or informative, and you learn how to engage people, you can quickly grow a following and develop an amount of stardom. And I think as more South Africans embrace Twitter, these opportunities will increase. Be cool, have fun, and don’t take yourself or anyone else too seriously…

Would you say that Barry Tuck is a Twitter addict?

Hell no! Of course not. Doesn’t everyone wake up at 2am to check their timeline? I prefer to think of myself as dedicated. And living in denial.

How has Tweeting changed Barry Tuck’s life?

Twitter was a bit of an anomaly for me for ages… I opened an account about a year before I actually got my head around what it was about, and since then it has become a major part of my daily life. It’s my most important source of entertainment, news and information, as well as an escape from reality, where I can say and do pretty much anything I want. Things that I would never say in real life, I can throw out into the Twitterverse and some people actually seem to appreciate them.

Twitter has also introduced me to a whole new world of friends that I’d never have met in real life – people who make me laugh on a daily basis, even though they’re thousands of kilometres away. And watching a sports event will never be the same again now that I have the ongoing Twitter commentary…

What is the funniest thing Barry Tuck has experienced on Twitter?

Hmmmm… That’s a tough one. There are so many hilarious moments, from the everyday Tweets and misadventures of @trevorgumbi and @KirstyBisset, to the commentary during the FIFA Soccer World Cup. But if I had to single out one “spit my coffee all over my Blackberry” moment, it would have to be when @TheJoLurie’s new kitten @TheYokoLurie (who has ‘her’ own profile) discovered ‘she’ was in fact male during ‘her’ first visit to the vet. Here’s the timeline:

@TheYokoLurie: I’m off to the vet now. I hope he has soft hands like @BarryTuck
@TheYokoLurie: My mom just took me to the vet and we received some rather troubling news: I am a cock trapped in a pussy. Yes. It’s true. I’m a boy.
@TheYokoLurie: #nowplaying YMCA – The Village People
@TheYokoLurie: I’m on the corner of homo and hetero #4sq
@TheYokoLurie: The visit to the vet was less Ace Ventura and more The Crying Game.
@TheYokoLurie: I’m out and I’m prrrroud.
@TheYokoLurie: I’m a boy. I get to dry hump shit now. I’m not hating this news.
@TheYokoLurie: How sad am I that its so small they thought I had a vagina?
@TheYokoLurie: Pink is my favourite colour RT @MishtotheD: Cape town, prepare your self, we’re going to paint the city pink!! @KimGreyling @staceywest24
@TheYokoLurie: I’m gay. It’s not a choice RT @MishtotheD: TheYokoLurie by choice or cause all ur stuff is pink?
@TheYokoLurie: I just unlocked the gay badge on 4square.

And then a week later:
@TheYokoLurie: @spillly my vagina fell out last week.

What does Barry Tuck actually do for a living when he’s not Tweeting?

Sadly I have a job that interferes massively with my personal tweeting time… I’m a partner in a marketing agency called Gorilla Creative Media. We specialise in social media and mobile marketing, working on building brand love for our clients by engaging and adding value to the lives of their most loyal consumers. So if I’m not tweeting I’m either working, surfing, flowboarding or thinking of tweets…

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Barry Tuck for taking the time for this interview and we wish him the best of luck with his future ventures. Follow him on Twitter: @BarryTuck. Visit the Gorilla Creative Media website at http://www.gorillacreativemedia.com.

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